Karangahake

One of our goals for the trek around the island was to visit a winery. Thanks to my handy dandy Lonely Planet guidebook of New Zealand, we discovered one at the end of the Karangahake gorge. The winery was located just off the highway, and was into a house which had been converted into a restaurant. There was both indoor and outdoor dining options, with the back patio having nice garden touches, and chair made from barrels. We chose to stay inside for lunch as the wind was a bit chilly. The winery owners were German, and the interior decor was simple and tasteful,  noticeably European influenced. I thought it was a lovely environment. The food and wine were both delicious (we settled on shrimp risotto, with a side of tasting a bit of all the wines on offer, six different wines). I had some nice pictures of the place, but not sure where they went to, so maybe I can share them in another post.

After lunch we went across the highway to some hiking trails to let the wine wear off a bit. The trails went alongside the river, which was alongside the highway, going through the gorge. We enjoyed some what was left of old mining sites as we meandered a couple kilometers along. We stopped when we got to the kilometer long tunnel and decided we would head back so we could get along to our next destination. I have great plans to return to this area (hopefully over the holiday break) for further exploring as there are a lot of options for hiking/biking/general exploring and adventuring.

Swing Bridge

Remains from a powerhouse for gold mining

Bridge across the gorge to the tunnel